Left-Right Punch Thrown at tax in British Columbia

A major tax revolt has hit the Great White North, specifically the province often dubbed Canada’s “lotus land.”

The British Columbia government’s plan to impose a 12 percent “Harmonized Sales Tax” has caused such disharmony that old political rivals of left and right are banding together to fight it.

The HST combines the government of Canada’s five-per-cent Goods and Services Tax and the province’s seven percent sales tax.

Major businesses back the tax – which would give them a $2 billion (Canadian) tax break – but opposition ranges from the tourism industry to conservative former Premier Bill Vander Zalm to the left-leaning New Democratic Party.

“We have to put up the fight: We are going to win it, there is no doubt about it but even if we don’t the fact that we are showing the government that people are concerned, that in itself carries a very important message,” Vander Zalm told a rally in the northern town of Fort St. John.

The (not-very-liberal) Liberal Party of Premier Gordon Campbell holds a majority in the B.C. Legislature, which is expected to pass the HST despite fiery opposition from the New Democrats.

But the province has a Recall and Initiative Law, passed back in days when the New Democrats were in power.

Its requirements are a lot stiffer than those faced by tax rebel Tim Eyman south of the border.

In order to force a vote on the tax, Vander Zalm and his troops must get petitions signed by at least 10 percent of registered voters in each of British Columbia’s 85 ridings *electoral districts). They have just 90 days to do the collecting, and can spend no more than $5,000 on advertising.

Premier Campbell huffed and puffed against the requirements back when he was an opposition lawmaker in Victoria:

“It’s not just the 10 percent on a province wide basis, but 10 percent in 100 percent of the constituencies, and that is far too onerous a hurdle for us to overcome: It suggests that the government is literally frightened of the input that citizens may have with regard to referendums proposals.”

(A tip of the hat to Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer for bringing the premier’s words back to haunt him.)

Tax opponents launched their petition drive on Tuesday night in the upscale Vancouver-Point Grey riding, which Campbell represents in the B.C. Legislature.

They’ve pointed out that the premier breathed not a word about the tax in last year’s provincial election campaign, and told the restaurant and development industries in writing that he had no plans to “harmonize.”

The HST has been rejected by both the left-of-center New Democrat government in Manitoba – which said it would hit ordinary taxpayers with a $405 million bill – and the very conservative provincial government in Saskatchewan.

A leading left-of-center journalist in British Columbia, Bill Tielman, has found himself sharing the stage with Vander Zalm. The former premier, in power from 1986 to 1991, is the flamboyant former operator of Fantasy Garden World, a theme park oriented to Holy Scripture and gardening.

“Both a right (Saskatchewan) and left (Manitoba) government reject the HST for exactly the same reasons – because an HST will dramatically shift taxes from big business onto consumers, causing an economic disaster at the worst possible time,” Tieman wrote this week in thetyee.ca.

“For British Columbians, that means consumers will pay an extra $2 billion a year in order to give that same amount of money to large corporations.”

Even if the tax isn’t put to a vote, the HST legislative could prove “the longest suicide note in BC history,” opposition B.C. legislator Leonard Krog said last week.

Vanzer Zalm is talking about creating a right-of-center party to oppose Campbell’s ruling Liberals. And, this November, British Columbia voters will have the legal option of launching recall petitions against legislators who support the controversial tax.